Billy Baltic

European test cruises for 2025 are back. 
 

40 minutes ago, Orsino said:

Now we cruise for the cruise. We endure the food and save our money for fine dining on land. 

We’re not there yet but the best meal I had during our Greek Island’s cruise was a dinner in port in Santorini. First time I’ve been on a cruise where my best meal was in port. 

11 hours ago, laura85 said:

Has anyone experienced once a day with a Pullman bed? We did NCL over the summer, once a day, and they left our Pullman bed down the entire cruise! It was awful because it blocked the closet all week. Finally, on 2nd to last day they put it up… but didn’t come back to bring it down at night so my daughter had to squeeze in bed with us. Wonder how RC handles this. 

We had this problem with Explorer during the Summer. Even though we had to use the sofa bed in our room there was still only one room service a day. It was a real PITA but they wouldn’t budge on their service level saying it was orders from headquarters. 

2 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Have you looked around you recently? I always use my egg example where we used to be able to buy a dozen for $0.79/dozen a year ago. It skyrocketed to over $5.00/dozen, and and settled at nearly $3/dozen. Consider that the ships use 50,000-75,000 eggs a week, what are you going to cut or what price increase are you going to make to not lose your shirt... Yeah,,,, I fully realize that the cruise line buys in bulk and does not pay retail, but the point is everything cost more. 

Yes but they could have increased prices to account for inflation without cutting the service and quality.

Also, people have no choice but to buy food to feed their families. They might not like the price but it has to do done. It’s a lot easier to pass on an overpriced vacation. 

20 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The cruise line still has to recoup all of the losses from the unfair, protracted shutdown during COVID.

It has to find a balance in doing that. Rising prices and reducing service will ultimately kill off demand for the product. IMO they’ve already gone far enough down that road. They need to look at restructuring the company, fleet or finances in some other way if their current profits are not sufficient. 

16 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Aren't the test load prices always a lot higher than what they actually will go on sale for?

🤞🏻

There appears to be only one date showing on this test load. For “launch” pricing it’s eye watering. One week on Allure in a spacious interior for 2 adults and 2 kids for 6.5k euro. If that’s indicative, we’ll be land based only in 2025. 

Agreed and the current performance is even after the dry dock earlier this year. 

30 minutes ago, molly361 said:

 I always miss the good stuff  sailing two weeks too late 

Keep an eye out for the pineapples. You might be in luck 😎

On 10/14/2023 at 11:20 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

It is not a higher deposit for a refundable fare.  It is only the cruise fare that increases, the deposit remains the same.  It is just poor wording on Royals site

That’s an interesting point. 
Can you book as refundable and change to non-refundable before final payment?

8 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

To be fair, it's really not a simple matter of geographical proximity. Comparing this conflict to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a false equivalence, although I know that situation has loomed large for the UK and Europe for the past year & a half.

Random terrorist attacks sadly have taken place in the past (Paris , London, Manchester, Nice, etc) and will happen in the future. That doesn’t make all of Europe any more dangerous right now. We travelled from Ireland to Milan last weekend., visited tourist attractions, went to a super open air food festival attended by thousands of people, went shopping etc and there wasn’t a suggestion of any increased danger. Of course we see what’s happening in the Middle East and it’s heartbreaking but it doesn’t directly impact Europe to the point where I would even contemplate changing travel plans. 

10 hours ago, Jetdriver787 said:

🤦🏻‍♂️

its 1397 miles from Rome to Tel Aviv

its 1041 miles from Rome to Kiev 

Were you worried before?

 

This x 100. 

Do people ever look at a map? 

8 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I believe the OP lives in the Israeli region, and can not / does not want to, leave the country to come to the US for embarkation

That would make more sense but they need to be more explicit. 

5 hours ago, fibola said:

I'm sharing my recent experience with Royal Caribbean in the hopes that it highlights an issue that needs to be addressed. 
Despite reaching out to them over a week ago with a heartfelt request to cancel my cruise plan for December due to the ongoing situation of war in Israel, I have not received a response from them until now.
When I contacted a travel agent who assisted with my booking, I was informed that Royal Caribbean is unwilling to accommodate my request for a refund, except with a staggering 75% cancellation fee. This response left me surprised and deeply disheartened.
As many of you are aware, Israel recently faced a devastating terrorist attack that has been described as one of the most heinous acts since 9/11. This has led to a state of war in Israel, resulting in the cancellation of various flights to and from the region. My planned flight in November to the United States has also been affected, making it impossible for me to even consider going on the cruise.
What is particularly bewildering is that Royal Caribbean has offered full refunds to those who had booked cruises departing from Haifa Port in Israel, showing flexibility in response to the dire situation. This inconsistency raises questions about the company's commitment to fairness and understanding which is not for their Israeli customer but to the crew alone. 
I would expect at least that after two inquiries on the subject I would receive some kind of consideration and not total disregard.

What itinerary are you booked on? If it had just planned to stop in an impacted area then they may just switch port to another country, which is within their rights. 

26 minutes ago, Basketball wife said:

Was this the Odyssey? We were on the Odyssey Holy Land tour last year. In the Diamond Lounge while I was waiting in line for the coffee machine, I got hit in the mouth with a cup by an irate passenger. At the same time she stepped on my foot which caused more immediate pain— I was limping around for days. Anyway, as the sailing progressed I noticed my tooth seemed a bit wobbly so about four days before the end of the cruise I went to Guest Services to get an accident report (I wanted a copy in case I had to make a claim for dental insurance.) I was told they “take note” of incidents but they can’t give me a “written” report🤷🏻‍♀️ Turns out, I lost the tooth and have an implant. I am pleased with my travel insurance as they did cover everything even without an official report; however, Odyssey Guest Services and Royal policies need work.

That’s sad to heat but not the first time I’ve heard of RC wanting to stay out of a situation like this. 

For those that are familiar, how do the prices look compared to those already released? I’m trying to get an indication if 2025 are going to be priced sky high. 

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Guarantees now available for triples and Quads

what does this mean?

2 hours ago, FlyGal25 said:

it seems ridiculous

I agree. It is. It made a big difference to how we viewed the cabin service we received but what we were told was they were following directions from Miami. 

11 minutes ago, FireEMT978 said:

Quick question. Many times while in the solarium, my daughter will tell me "Dad you're yelling" while we are in the pool talking with her and other people. What are all of your wonderful thoughts about that? As I am deaf/hard of hearing, and have to remove my hearing aids while in the pool.

Sorry to hear that. I have no experience of deafness. 

4 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

I'm not understanding why you have to qualify your answer.  I guess it has more to do with 11 PM than you agreeing with no children at the bar.

 

BTW I never said anything about 11PM , you did.

 

Safe travels

On an RC ship there is nothing stopping kids sitting at the bar. Different counties and , apparently, states treat it differently. 

3 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No, it’s most people’s opinion. 
There is a difference between “the bar” and “the lounge”

Great gift to be able to speak for most people. 

2 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

So I'm correct?

I never said I’d have my kids sit anywhere in a bar or lounge at 11pm. They’d be in bed a long time. 

41 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Not even close

In your opinion. Not stated anywhere by RC. Happy to be connected on that when someone posts the detail. 

51 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

It's my opinion.  In my state children are not allowed to sit at a bar.

Ok. I respect your opinion but my opinion is different. In my country it’s generally determined by the time of day, not where the seat is located or what height it is. 

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

 

Perhaps you don't recognize the difference between the BAR and the LOUNGE that it is located in.

it’s all the same. Just seats of different heights.